


The Last Rococo

by GeniusCactus



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Short & Stupid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-18 23:39:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7335682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeniusCactus/pseuds/GeniusCactus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fuji Syusuke and Mizuki Hajime form a bond over a similar interest</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Last Rococo

Mizuki looked down anxiously at his pocket calendar. Today the Pu’er Place* was giving away 1 free mock Rococo tea set to the first 100 people to visit their Tokyo location. The problem was, the give away started at 4:00pm sharp, and Mizuki was never going to make it in time if he didn’t find a way to get out of last period.

It was a good thing his French teacher adored him and would never suspect a thing.

“Monsieur Gourrier, I have quite the stomach ache, may I be excused to go to the nurse’s office?” Mizuki asked in flawless French, clutching his abdomen dramatically and coughing a couple of times for the effect.

“Oui, Oui, Monsieur Mizuki. Just take the whole rest of the day off!”

 _The kind, sweet, studious Mizuki must be crumbling under the pressure of having to watch over so many rowdy dorm boys,_ Monsieur Gourrier thought, shaking his head with concern.

And with that, Mizuki escaped St. Rudolph and rushed over to the Pu’er Place to pick up his mock Rococo tea set.

Nevertheless, despite leaving school early, a long line had already formed at the Pu’er Place when Mizuki arrived.

 _It’s not fair_ , Mizuki scowled as he shuffled into line; if only the Pu’er Place had opened a location closer to St. Rudolph he would surely have been the first to arrive!

Looking up Mizuki realized that the person ahead of him was none other than Yuuta’s older brother, Fuji Syusuke.

“I see you’re also here to acquire one of the mock Rococo tea sets …fufufu,” Mizuki said twirling a piece of hair between his thumb and forefinger.

“Hmm…and you are?”

Yuuta’s older brother always seemed to ‘forget’ who he was. It was probably just a ploy to try and irritate him. Well, it wasn’t going to work. Today Mizuki Hajime was on cloud nine. He was getting a mock Rocacco tea set.

“Mizuki Hajime, Yuuta’s dorm manager,” Mizuki filled in, calm as a cucumber.

“Right! I knew I’d seen you around somewhere. Thank you for always taking care of my baby brother,” Fuji smiled. It looked genuine. Maybe he was in a good mood too.

“And that’s the last of ‘em” A burly man was saying as he handed Fuji a mahogany wooden box with the Pu’er Place logo engraved in gold on its surface.

The last mock Rococo tea set

“W-wait,” Mizuki burst out, “I still haven’t received _my_ mock Rococo tea set yet!”

“Sorry kiddo, first come first serve,” the man laughed heartily, shoving Mizuki away.

Mizuki was in a panic. He couldn’t let Fuji Syusuke of all people walk off with _his_ mock Rococo tea set. He had waited patiently for months for this exact day. He even cut out of his favorite French class just to get here on time. No way Fuji Syusuke was going to steal this bit of pride and joy from him!

“I’ll buy it off you!” Mizuki tried desperately. He needed that mock Rococo tea set.

“As tempting as that offer is, Yuuta was telling me how you’ve been having financial difficulties lately…Something about buying pricey rose petal bath salts, was it?” Fuji hummed, attempting to walk off in the other direction.

_So he does remember who I am…And, Yuuta…that information was confidential!_

“What if I make a deal with you?”

“I’m listening,” Fuji turned around.

“I don’t know if Yuuta has told you, but I’m somewhat of a tea connoisseur,” Mizuki boasted,” I pick my own tea fresh from my Grandmother’s farm, and I am willing to share some in exchange for a bit quality time with the tea set.”

He looked over to Fuji for some kind of reaction, but saw no change in expression. So, Mizuki immediately added, “And, I could also throw in a couple anecdotes about Yuuta’s daily life…” in hopes of enticing him.

“Very well, bring a sample over tomorrow and we’ll talk from there,” Fuji answered.

In truth, the tea by itself would have been enough of an offer for Fuji, as he had heard tales of its superb quality from Yuuta. But…if Mizuki wanted to tell him what his little brother was up to at school, who was he to stop him?

 

The following day was Friday, also known in the Fuji household as ‘pie day.’ Yuuta of course came home to sneak a piece of his sister’s raspberry pie. Moseying over to the pie safe, he noticed quite a large slice was missing from the pie. It was strange, usually his elder siblings were careful to only take small slivers since they knew it was his favorite.

 _Maybe they were feeling extra hungry today_ , Yuuta thought, making his way over to his usual place on couch. As he entered the living room he was hit with a fragrant aroma of black tea, and a familiar sardonic chuckle that could only belong to one person.

It couldn’t be.

Pie in hand, Yuuta crept closer. His brother and dorm manager, Mizuki, were sitting on opposite ends of the couch. They were both smiling and looked to be having a perfectly amicable conversation.

Either that or they were plotting the best way to kill each other.

“Yuuta, you’re just in time for tea!” The elder Fuji brother called over, patting down a seat next to him. “Mizuki here just brought over some lovely tea from his Grandmother’s farm.”

Yuuta simply nodded obediently, somewhat stupefied at the situation, and sat in between to his brother and dorm manager on the couch.

It was then that Yuuta spotted the mock Rococo tea set on the table. For as long as he could remember both Mizuki and his brother had ‘ **Collect Free Mock Rococo tea set’** written in big letters in their calendars. It was probably the most important event in there, second to only the nationals. Although now that St. Rudolph was out of the running for the nationals, ‘Collect Free Mock Rococo tea set’ might have been Mizuki’s most important event of the year.

So, why was there only one Rococo tea set between the two of them? That could be a major problem.

“There’s only one tea set!” Yuuta sputtered, not sure if he should dare to bring it up.

“They ran out before we both had a chance to retrieve one,” Mizuki explained.

Fuji nodded somberly, pouring Yuuta a cup of Mizuki’s black tea. He handed him the delicate teacup complete with a tiny saucer and pinky-sized teaspoon.

“Uhm…are you guys planning to divvy the thing up, some cups for Mizuki, a teapot for bro—“ Yuuta asked, setting the tea cup-saucer ensemble on the coffee table and balancing his half eaten pie on his lap.

“What?!” Mizuki shouted, aghast, “Yuuta, firstly, this is not a ‘thing,’ it is a functional art piece permeating with the life and integrity of its creator. I thought you would know at least that much. Secondly, something as dear as a mock Rococo tea set shouldn’t be split up. It would be…it would be…” Mizuki stroked his chin contemplatively, searching for the right word.

“Disrespectful,” Fuji filled in, handing Yuuta the sugar bowl.

“So…you’re both planning to _share_ the mock Rococo tea set?” Yuuta asked as he put some [six] sugar cubes in his tea. Mizuki tried to hold back a gag watching Yuuta destroy his freshly handpicked black tea.

“Naturally,” Fuji answered, “Besides, having tea with a _friend_ is more enjoyable.”

Yuuta pinched his cheek roughly to make sure he was awake, wincing at the pain that ensued. Yep, he was awake, and his brother had just called Mizuki his _friend_. What was the world coming to?

“Mizuki here was just telling me there’s girl you’ve been spending a lot of your free time with. What was her name again…Hanada something? I hope it isn’t cutting into your studies too much. Maybe I should give her a call…”

“NO!” Yuuta yelled, clutching his pie plate with both hands. Then turning to Mizuki, “You can’t tell _him_ things like that, it’s—“

“Confidential?” Mizuki smirked, leaning over to wipe some raspberry pie filling off of Yuuta’s nose with a lacy cloth napkin.

Giving Mizuki the side eye, Yuuta snatched the cloth napkin out of his hands.

“Well, I’d best be going. Can’t leave those rapscallions** alone at the dorm for too long,” Mizuki said, standing up and brushing off a few pie crumbs Yuuta accidentally flung on him earlier.

“Come back for tea anytime now, Mizuki!” Fuji waved, looking positively delighted.

“Oh, I will. I look forward to seeing those photo albums you were telling me about.”

 _Photo albums?_ Yuuta’s eyes grew wide with fear _No…not **those** photo albums_

“Oh Yuuta…don’t worry, it’s nothing bad…just some photos of when you were younger. Remember that time you almost got your hand bit off by a lion when we visited Tokyo Zoo? You wanted to stick your hands between the bars to pet the kitty, so cute! What fun old memories. Hahaha”

“Fufufufu,” Mizuki laughed along.

 _Fun old memories…yeah right! Anyway, since when were Mizuki and my bro so similar?_ Yuuta wondered, stuffing the last bit of pie in his mouth reflectively.

**Author's Note:**

> *Pu'er = a type of tea
> 
> **Rapscallion = mischievous person, scoundrel, etc. While slightly outdated, I feel it's the type of word Mizuki might use 
> 
> Also according to the fanbooks...  
> A Rococo tea set is Mizuki's most wanted item and one of Fuji's most wanted items is tableware  
> See? So much potential together. So much!
> 
> Thank you for reading <3


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